The Voltairine de Cleyre Reader (Paperback)

by Voltairine de Cleyre (Author), A. J. Brigati (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"God is a lie, / and Faith is a lie, / And a tenfold lie is Love; / Life is a problem without a why, / And never a thing to prove."-Voltairine de Cleyre

Never as infamous as Emma Goldman, Voltairine de Cleyre distinguished herself as a leading intellectual, activist, speaker and writer with a tremendous impact on American anarchist, feminist and labor movements. Combined into a fully annotated volume are her classic works and writings that have not been widely available since her death in 1912. She reveals the scope and depth of her activism and study through her prose. Her poetry speaks powerfully of the issues closest to her heart.

"The most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced."-Emma Goldman

About the Author
A.J. Brigati professes Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century British Literature, Marxist and Anarchist Theory and Sports Literature at the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: AK Press; annotated edition edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1902593871
• ISBN-13: 978-1902593876
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #523,289 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Individualist Anarchist/Libertarian, January 15, 2006

By	Robert A. Williams "libertarian" (Oberlin, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Few women possessed the courage to tackle social injustice and then later criticize the Constitution for its failure to realize it, as did Voltarine de Cleyre - not just in her century but from among women in ours as well. Driven by the injustice of being interred in a nunnery at a young age, she railed against arbitrary dominion of the powerful against the less powerful.

In this reader are collected some of her speeches that were later transcribed into essays and published. A December 16, 1893 speech was published in 1894 as "In Defense of Emma Goldman and the Right of Expropriation": "Miss Goldmann [sic] is a communist; I am an individualist. She wishes to destroy the right of property, I wish to assert it. I make war upon privilege and authority whereby the right of property, the true right of the individual, is annihilated". In this essay, she showed herself to a libertarian and wisely saw that free enterprise makes it difficult for one to amass wealth at the expense of the many; only the interventionist power of the State can create monopoly [or even a corporation for that matter].

In her 1909 essay "Anarchism and American Traditions", she wrote: "Anarchism declares that private enterprise, whether individual or cooperative, is equal to all the undertakings of society. And it quotes the particular two instances, Education and Commerce, which the governments of the States and of the United States have undertaken to manage and regulate, as the very two which in operation have done more to destroy American freedom and equality, to warp and distort American tradition, to make of government a mighty engine of tyranny".

After the Haymarket labor leaders were hanged in 1887 after a corrupted trial, she became an anti-Constitutionalist because of its inability to protect individuals' rights. Apparently she had never read or heard of the Cherokee Nation's Supreme Court win and subsequent Trail of Tears at the hands of President Andy Jackson in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court ruling. Because if she had, she would not have been shocked to learn that the Constitution really is a sham. It protects individuals' rights only when the government allows it to; otherwise it's just words on paper.

A student of Benjamin Tucker, Voltairine de Cleyre should be read not only for her ideas on liberty but for her historical impact in the growth of early libertarian thought.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the voltairine de cleyre reader, May 12, 2006

By	Gordon E. Anderson "Early Anderson" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Superb collection of one of the most brilliant anarchist writers. This book also contains some of her very tender, but powerful poetry. For those who think they may know something of anarchy, this may be the ideal place to begin a study in depth of a complicated subject.

She covers such diverse subjects as Zapata in the chapter on the Mexican Revolt to Anarchism and American Traditions.
This is one the important contributions Anarchist Press has made to the world by publishing works that have been frequently out of print.

Outstanding

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars proof independent scholars exist, August 8, 2004

By	R. Jeremy Lespi "the moon's rictus" (Pontlevoy, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent. This is the book you should purchase if you're wanting to know more about de Cleyre. Brigati resurrects her for the popular reader.